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Phones

Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
MediaTek’s Dimensity 9600 Pro is its first 2nm phone chip.

It packs Arm’s new G2-Ultra NX GPU, supports 4K at 240fps slow-motion video, and has two NPUs for more (and more efficient) AI processing. Its joined by a 9600M chip for cheaper models. Oppo has already said its Find X10 Pro Max will use the 9600 Pro, as will Vivo’s X500 Pro.

Update: Added Oppo and Vivo hardware confirmations.

1/2Image: MediaTek
Thomas Ricker
Thomas Ricker
The first phone with a trio of 200 megapixel cameras.

Oppo is teasing a September 22nd launch of its Find X10 series in China. The Pro Max model is reliably tipped to pack three 200MP sensors into the squircle around back, while the flash and other sensors get stuffed into that raised vertical bar.

Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Motorola has its own wide foldable on the way.

The Razr maker didn’t want to feel left out by Apple’s iPhone Duo, the latest in a wave of passport-shaped foldables. This clip of its flip phones and foldables, including this year’s Razr Fold, ends with a shorter, wider phone, shown briefly and only in silhouette. Motorola calls it “our next move.”

Hands-on with the foldable iPhone DuoHands-on with the foldable iPhone Duo
Allison Johnson and Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Honor’s Magic 9 series gets an apple-green camera plateau.

The company has never been shy about its Apple-inspired designs, though this one feels a little more Honor’s own with the large circular camera incorporated too. The Magic 9 phones launch in China on September 28th, and feature cameras designed with Arri, support for two different teleconverter lenses, and this soft green color, which I do rather like.

1/5Image: Honor
Apple says ‘Fold’ and competitors ask ‘How wide?’

The launch of its first foldable iPhone proves Apple still calls the shots.

Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Xiaomi’s 18 Fold is the perfect phone for watching The Odyssey.

Released today in China after last week’s IFA appearance, it pushes the new wide fold form factor just a touch further than Samsung did. It’s both shorter and wider, with a roughly 1.4:1 aspect ratio on both screens — about the same proportions as international paper standards or a 1.43:1 IMAX screen. Finally, a phone designed for The Odyssey.

<em>Both screens have roughly the same aspect ratio and can hit 4,000 nits of peak brightness.</em>
<em>It’s powered by Xiaomi’s Xring O3 chip, with a big 6,000mAh battery too.</em>
<em>Like Samsung, Xiaomi is keen to compare the phone to the passport form factor.</em>
<em>Unlike the Z Fold 8, it has a triple rear camera, including a 50-megapixel, 3.5x periscope telephoto.</em>
<em>It comes in red, black, or white, plus a pink ceramic special edition.</em>
<em>The Xiaomi 18 Fold launched today in China from ¥10,999 (about $1,600), but we don’t know if it will ever go on sale elsewhere.</em>
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Both screens have roughly the same aspect ratio and can hit 4,000 nits of peak brightness.
Image: Xiaomi
Cameron Faulkner
Cameron Faulkner
NONE OF YOUR F$%KING BUSINESS.

Privacy screen protectors that appear black when viewed to the side aren’t new. Neither are ones that display logos or messages. But I’m tickled by the “Intimacy Shield” from Joi AI. The pitch makes its screen-dimming effect seem like a breakthrough, though I guess it gets credit for injecting some corny graphic T-shirt energy into the screen protector space.

You’re in for a wild ride, babe
You’re in for a wild ride, babe
Image: Joi AI
Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Swarovski has bedazzled the Motorola Razr (again).

35 crystals have once again been “hand-positioned” in the flip phone’s body, with a larger 32-facet crystal on the hinge, all finished with a quilted, leather-inspired texture in Pantone’s “Meteorite” color. It launches September 10th for $899.99, a $100 premium over the regular Razr — but what says luxury like Swarovski-studded quilted pleather?

1/5Photo: Dominic Preston / The Verge
Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Here’s Xiaomi’s wide 18 Fold.

It’s short, it’s wide, and it’s red. It’s also powered by Xiaomi’s new in-house Xring 03 chip, so it’ll be interesting to see how performance stacks up. Oh, and it’s launching in China on September 7th, which I’m sure has nothing to do with upcoming events in California.

<em>You get a 7.58-inch inner screen, with a squat 5.38-inch outer one.</em>
<em>It’s squat, wide, and passport-shaped, similar to the Galaxy Z Fold 8.</em>
<em>I love the red finish, though it’s similar to the rumored new cherry iPhone color.</em>
<em>The 6,000mAh battery is larger than Samsung’s, though the phone itself doesn’t look any bigger.</em>
<em>There’s a 200MP, 1/1.56-inch-type main camera; a 50MP, 3.5x periscope; and a 50MP ultrawide.</em>
<em>Xiaomi’s own Xring O3 chip powers the phone, supposedly delivering similar performance to a Snapdragon 8 Elite.</em>
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You get a 7.58-inch inner screen, with a squat 5.38-inch outer one.
Photo: Dominic Preston / The Verge
Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Packard Bell is back, and more colorful than ever.

Acer, which has owned the historic PC brand since 2008, has resurrected it in a line of cheap, cheerful, and exceedingly colorful hardware, ranging from a 14-inch laptop to a portable food steamer. It all goes on sale in Q4 this year, though for now it’s only hitting the market in Europe.

<em>The €499 DotBook is the most expensive part of the lineup by far.</em>
<em>So colorful!</em>
<em>The DotLine is a 4G feature phone, while the DotLook glasses have speakers but no camera.</em>
<em>These are the DotBass headphones.</em>
<em>This suitcase vinyl player has built-in LED speakers, but Bluetooth out too.</em>
<em>Weirdest of all, a portable mini-steamer for reheating leftovers, in partnership with Steasy.</em>
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The €499 DotBook is the most expensive part of the lineup by far.
Photo: Dominic Preston / The Verge
Get ready for a really busy month of smartphones

Xiaomi, Apple, Huawei, and more are all launching flagship phones this month.

Dominic Preston
Andrew Liszewski
Andrew Liszewski
Huawei redesigned the folding mechanism for its next trifold phone.

The Mate XT was the world’s first trifold smartphone when it launched last year but the sequel has debuted with a major change. Instead of the original’s Z-shaped arrangement of folding panels, the Huawei Mate XT 2’s side panels each fold inwards meaning you can only use its larger screen when the device is fully unfolded. Preorders are now open in China, but full pricing won’t be known until September 7th.

<em>The Mate XT 2 will be available in multiple configurations with 512GB to 2TB of storage, but all versions will come with 16GB of RAM.</em>
<em>The three color options include obsidian black and white plus purple for those opting for the 16GB/2TB option.</em>
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The Mate XT 2 will be available in multiple configurations with 512GB to 2TB of storage, but all versions will come with 16GB of RAM.
Image: Huawei
The Galaxy Z Flip 8 is at its best when there’s friction

8

Verge Score

The cover screen feels more like a phone than ever, but the limitations are still what makes it.

Dominic Preston
Stevie Bonifield
Stevie Bonifield
The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra’s inner display died in JerryRigEverything’s bend test.

Foldables tend to struggle with the bend test, but the smaller Galaxy Z Fold 8 survived it, and this year’s Pixel foldable didn’t go up in smoke. Will Apple’s rumored ‘iPhone Ultra’ foldable fare any better?

Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Three 200-megapixel cameras? In this economy!?

That’s what the fairly reliable leaker Digital Chat Station thinks Oppo has planned for its Find X10 Pro Max, tipped to launch in either September or October. It’s a different approach to the Find X9 Ultra, which leaned into a 10x periscope lens to stand out.

Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Sony Xperia 10 VIII: Same specs, new price.

The new midrange Android phone has almost exactly the exact same design and internals as last year’s Xperia 10 VII apart from two meager upgrades: a brighter display and louder speakers. Oh, and at €599 / £549 (around $700-750), it’ll also be € / £150 more expensive when it launches in Europe in “mid-to-late September.” Thanks, RAMageddon.

<em>Those two rear cameras are the same, with a 50-megapixel main and 13-megapixel ultrawide.</em>
<em>The display is apparently 50 percent brighter, but otherwise similar: a 6.1-inch, FHD+, 120Hz OLED.</em>
<em>It’s the same inside too, with a Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 chipset and 5,000mAh battery.</em>
<em>This “Frozen White” finish is new, at least.</em>
<em>And “Misty Lilac” too.</em>
<em>“Frosted Gray” sounds new, but it looks pretty damn similar to last year’s “Charcoal Black.”</em>
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Those two rear cameras are the same, with a 50-megapixel main and 13-megapixel ultrawide.
Image: Sony
Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Xiaomi just launched its second flagship phone chip.

The Xring 03 is, a little confusingly, the follow-up to last year’s Xring 01, which appeared in the China-only 15S Pro phone and Pad 7 Ultra tablet. The 3nm chipset, apparently produced by TSMC, has the usual CPU and GPU bumps, plus mobile-first support for LPDDR6 RAM.

Render of Xiaomi Xring 03 chip
Xiaomi will have to manufacture the Xring 03 at serious scale if it wants true independence from Qualcomm.
Image: Xiaomi
Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Huawei’s next slab phone will be a wide boi too.

The Pura X View will launch next week in China, but Huawei has already revealed its design, including a broad 16:9.5 aspect ratio display. It looks a little like Huawei’s Pura X flip phone did when unfolded, but in a regular slab format. After last month’s Galaxy Z Fold 8, we’re truly in the wide phone era.

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Huawei Pura X View product render
Image: Huawei
Google’s Pixel 11 Pro Fold feels like the end of an era

8

Verge Score

A great foldable with IP68 and a reliable triple camera, trapped in a shape everyone else seems to be moving on from.

Dominic Preston
Andrew Liszewski
Andrew Liszewski
The new Fairphone 6 Plus gets a perfect repairability score.

Given it’s a minor hardware refresh of last year’s Fairphone 6 it comes as no surprise that the new Fairphone 6 Plus (the company’s first smartphone it will sell directly in the US) was awarded a perfect 10/10 score in iFixit’s teardown test. Disassembly of everything from camera modules to the screen was straightforward using just basic tools.